Book Review: Follow Me by Sara Shepard
Title: Follow Me
Author: Sara Shepard
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Release date: October 5th 2017
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Goodreads Synopsis:
veryone knows Chelsea Dawson. Day and night, her tens of thousands of followers on Instagram watch her every move. So when she goes missing from the sunny beachside town of Lafayette, it makes headlines.The police are searching everywhere for her kidnapper, but when eighteen-year-old Seneca Frazier sees Chelsea's picture, she knows instantly who took her. Chelsea looks exactly like her friend Aerin Kelly's murdered sister - and Seneca's own mother, who was killed five years ago.Seneca's suspicions are confirmed when the killer contacts her, threatening to hurt Chelsea if Seneca goes to the police with what she knows. Seneca makes the only move she can, reaching out to Aerin and Maddox and Madison Wright, her friends from Case Not Closed, an amateur crime-solving community. Together they go to Lafayette to work the case, to save Chelsea, and to bring the killer to justice.But the killer has a plan of his own. He wants Seneca and her friends in Lafayette, but he wants them to play by his rules. One wrong step could mean the end for Chelsea - or the Amateurs.
Review:
I had a few days to think about this book and overall I did enjoy how the mystery unravelled. The thrill and suspense of it all were very solid but the structure and the way the story was told was very messy. A lot happened within 280+ pages of this book and things felt a little forced. The romance aspects of this book also felt unnecessary and the characters lacked their charisma and personality. I was looking forward to reading more about Aerin and Madison but there was just too much focus on the mystery solving and very little was left for the characters to grow. The 'bomb' dropped right at the start of the novel and it was a torpedo from there. It was just a little too fast paced for my liking..Otherwise, it was a fun and enjoyable read. I like the way the mystery sort of twists itself and by the end of it it unravels quite brilliantly. I'd have much preferred if the book was longer though, given the complexity of both the plot and the characters. That way the narrative structure would have been much easier to follow.I expected much more coming from a sequel of a book I adored. I'm afraid the story is just stretching itself too thin. And with that ending, I'm feeling a third book coming up. I'm not sure what to expect from it, but here's to hoping we get a little bit more of the Amateurs!Thank you SO much to Allen & Unwin and Hot Key Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
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